With GTA V on the verge of release, it’s a good time to look back at what could have been: at how the GTA universe might have panned out if Rockstar had followed through on some of their initial plans.

A lot of changes are fairly well known – such as the infamous cutting of the grenade launcher, or the dropped online multiplayer that should have been in GTA III and San Andreas – and others just weren’t all that evolutionary – like the planned presence of sharks in the water of GTA San Andreas, the use of the pool cue as a weapon in GTA IV, or the presence of the skateboard as a vehicle in San Andreas.

Some changes to the franchise have been rectified with GTA V, for instance, the proposed bus rides that were initially planned as part of GTA IV, complete with a schedule, will be part of GTA V. Quite why that has been included remains to be seen, but presumably Rockstar are keen to capture the Bus Anorak dollar as well as their usual audience.

But the most intriguing changes are those that almost completely altered the GTA franchise – elements that would have meant a different tone, or a different trajectory entirely – and it is those which will come into focus in this article.

Honourable Mention

Australia Hates Sexual Violence

If you were living in the merry old land of Oz around 2003, your experience of playing Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto III might well have been different to that of a European, or American – or in fact, anyone else around the world.

Because thanks to Australia’s notoriously strict Censorship Board, the game suffered some somewhat rare cuts, as the ACB decided that killing prostitutes after hiring them for some leisure time was “sexual violence.” That infamous element was subsequently cut from GTA III, and also Vice City, robbing Rockstar of one of their more colourful and off-kilter marketing techniques.

So an actual change that temporarily changed the history of GTA, at least in Australia – though not one that would have lost fans, or at least not the type of fans you’d actually want to play your game anyway…

The post GTA V: 10 Things That Almost Completely Changed GTA History appeared first on WhatCulture!.

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With the shiny next generation consoles Xbox One and PlayStation 4 coming out toward the end of the month, so marks the passing of another era for the Grand Theft Auto series.

There have been three canonical universes in the long-running Rockstar Games franchise, from the 2D universe introduced back in 1997 featuring top down graphics of Liberty City, through to the HD universe we all know today.

With the release of a new console comes the improvement in technology and, ergo, ability for developers to churn out more sophisticated video games.

The GTA series has come a long way, for example, since ‘Grand Theft Auto 1 , and one only needs to look at the above image to see that.

Starting on the original PlayStation, the GTA series began with the crude Grand Theft Auto 1, GTA London 1961, GTA London 1969 and finally Grand Theft Auto 2 before the PS2 era ushered in the groundbreaking, 3D GTA III.

In the so-called 3D universe, fans were also treated to such hits as GTA Vice City, San Andreas, Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories, before the HD universe spawned the release of GTA IV and, recently, V.

And, with next generation machines looming on the horizon, we can’t help but wonder what lies in store for the franchise when Rockstar finally make their debut on the new consoles with an exciting fourth GTA universe.

To celebrate these possibilities, here, we take a look back on the series so far and bring to you 10 Iconic Moments That Defined Grand Theft Auto.

The post GTA V: 10 Iconic Moments That Defined The Series appeared first on WhatCulture!.

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At the end of October last year, Rockstar Games revealed via Newswire that the massively hyped sandbox title Grand Theft Auto V was to be released in the Spring of 2013. They stated that the game would be available to pre-order as of November, and that a “host of new information” would also be released that same month.

They followed up on their promise of releasing a goldmine of info for the fervently anticipated title before the end of the year, but fans were to be left bitterly disappointed, even crestfallen when news broke late last month that the title would be delayed until September, forcing fans to wait a further four months before getting their paws on the game everyone and his cat have been talking about.

It lead to widespread condemnation of Rockstar with some fans venting their fury at the game developer, whilst some rumours circled the web proffering conspiracy theory-based speculation as to the real reason for the delay, namely the looming release of next gen consoles.

Yeah, sure, it sucks that GTA V has been delayed, but there are some positives.

Here, we examine 5 reasons why the delay isn’t such a bad thing.

Click “Next” to get started.

The post GTA V: 5 Reasons Why The Delay Isn’t Such A Bad Thing appeared first on WhatCulture!.

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September 17th is the official release date for one of the most anticipated games of all time, Grand Theft Auto V. Unfortunately, this comes as a major disappointment to those who were anticipating that the game would be released in the former official (but vague) ‘Spring 2013′ period. In their press release, Rockstar cited that, “GTAV is a massively ambitious and complex game and it simply needs a little more polish to be of the standard we and, more importantly, you require.”

Despite that, some fans are still disillusioned and from reading various GTA fansites, are even considering not purchasing the game when it is released because of their disappointment. I personally don’t believe that any fan of the series would go that far, but it just goes to show how upset the community is at the moment.

So, why exactly is the game worth the wait? Why do fans eagerly clamour for new information about the game every single day? What do the stories of Trevor, Michael and Franklin bring to the table to stake their claim as worthy GTA protagonists?

Here are my top five reasons…

Click next to begin the countdown.

The post GTA V: 5 Reasons Why It’s More Than Worth The Wait appeared first on WhatCulture!.